Five free mobile apps for local shopping discounts

THE WOODLANDS, Texas -- The average American budget for back-to-school clothing and supplies is $635. Many lay in wait for the tax-exempt weekend, August 9 thru 11, to stretch their shopping dollars. Those who are technically-savvy can save an even larger amount of money using mobile device apps that inform shoppers of store discounts, and provide access to discount coupons. The best part is the apps are free!

Yowza!! is a mobile application for your iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, or Android phone, that provides mobile coupons, deals, and discounts from nearby stores. Users can scan coupons from their mobile device at checkout.

The RetailMeNot Coupons app features a huge variety of coupons, deals, and special offers to local stores and includes restaurants as well.

Shoptopia is also a location-based app that includes a search function to find specific items at a discount in area stores.

Shopkick is the first mobile app that gives you rewards and offers for simply walking into the stores. This is a definite must before hitting the shopping malls.

For college students working to pay their tuition, clothes, and automobile expenses, every dollar saved is already earmarked for essentials.

“I would definitely download it! Being a college student I'm always looking for a way to save ,” said local resident, Annmarie Sullivan, a returning sophomore to the University of Texas in Austin. “I would be willing to pay a few dollars for it because the savings from the app would more than make up for the 2 or 3 dollar cost to download.”

Fortunately for students, these apps are free.

“I would love an app that stores and finds all of the discounts for me because I never have time to look for them on my own,” said Erin Kelley, another local resident who will be returning to the University of Colorado this fall as a junior. “Plus, the app would keep me from losing them!”

Many individual stores have their own apps which can be downloaded from their websites as well so students can check the Internet in search of their favorite stores’ apps for their favorite brands.

One more useful app is the Key Ring app which scans all the barcode tags on your key ring and your loyalty cards. So pitch all the loyalty cards hogging space in your wallet after scanning them, and cut all those annoying tags off your key ring. The app has an added feature…a shared shopping list function so the family can divide and conquer, keeping tabs on who’s buying what.

The time it takes to download these apps…less than the time it takes to make the ‘early bird’ sales.